11 Charity Fundraiser Ideas for Those Living with Chronic Illness

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Have you ever wanted to do a fundraiser for charity? Then you hit back down to reality and find your physical disability makes a sponsored walk, or a parachute jump seem near enough impossible. I have been there recently and today I am going to share with you some ideas of how you can raise money for charity that are not too strenuous, whilst living with a chronic illness.

1. Hold a quiz night

A quiz night is flexible to be held in any location and can involve people you don’t know if you make a public event on Facebook. You could offer a small cash prize or a free round of drinks. If you know the people well you can make the quiz even funnier by using the game two truths one lie and making it into a quiz.

2.Hold a cake sale

If you are good at cooking why not give baking a go, or politely ask if local bakeries could donate items to sell. When I was in college, my team did this and found that many companies were happy to help for our Macmillan Cancer fundraiser held in the college canteen. Overall, we raised around £150. However, due to allergen laws it is wise to clarify what is in each product if any perishable donations are unlabelled. My team requested a fundraiser pack from the charity which consisted of a cake stencil, table cloth, balloons and stickers.

3.Sell unwanted items

Remember your junk is another’s treasure. You could sell your items as second hand online through local Facebook groups, an eBay or Amazon shop. Another way you can sell unwanted items is through attending a car boot sale.

4.Sell arts & crafts

If you have an artistic flare you can have a go at making art and setting up a shop online. Conscious Crafties is a dedicated network of online businesses ran by those with chronic illnesses. Membership is currently £4 per month and then PayPal will take a percentage of your sales. Alternatively, you can set up a shop on Etsy but there are also fees associated with this. You must also be aware of any copyright infringements when selling art online.

Copyright – Morgan Shaw

5.Hold a talent contest / amateur drama show

A talent contest or drama performance may be suitable if you are a part of a committee, group or have children that go to school where you can market to a wide audience and use a large hall for free or at a discounted price.

6.Have an eating contest

If you are a massive foodie and has a friend who is too – you can try having an eating contest, this could either be posted on YouTube or privately

7.Give up something you love

You can choose to give up a product you love – examples include coffee or chocolate for a period of time and ask people to sponsor you.

8.Sell peoples skills to the highest bidder

If you are particularly skilled at something you hold a charity night where people sell their skills to the highest bidder. I really like this idea and is sounds super fun.

9.Crowdfunding

There are many ways that you can crowdfund for a fundraiser. On Go Fund Me and Just Giving you can select whether the money goes straight to the organisation, where gift aid can be added. Alternatively, you can set up a campaign that can lasts 90 days on Facebook where the money is directly sent to the charity. If you need materials for your fundraiser, like art materials you can set up an Amazon wish list or set up that you want to withdraw the money as an individual for your cause.

Did you know that if you use Amazon Smile (which is not different to normal Amazon) , Amazon will donate 0.5% of the net purchase price so you can donate to your selected charity, whilst buying things you need and no additional cost to you. Granted, this may not be a fundraiser in a typically sense but it is a fantastic way to support your selected charity or charities. If you don’t use Amazon there are also other affiliate fundraising websites like Easy Fundraising that show different types of retailers you can buy from to raise money for your charity in a similar way.

11.Hold a raffle

Finally, you could for generous donations, sell the tickets and hold a raffle.

So there we have it guys, I hope I have given you some insight on different fundraisers for a charitable cause whilst living with a chronic illness. Currently, I am holding my own art fundraiser for Ehlers Danlos Support U.K.

There are a lot of great ideas here for those of us with small children, too, who can’t always do the traditional fundraising. My aunt runs a non-profit, and we always use amazon smile for her company. It’s so easy and no difference to us, but helps them!

I didn’t think about that but I can imagine Art or a cake fundraiser one could be really good for children or if they are confident enough the talent show . I wonder if the charity has to pay a small fee to receive the funds but either way it is an easy way to help a charity like you said Stephanie xx

These are amazing ideas. I never even thought of half of these. I love the idea of a bake sale for charity because I LOVE baking!! Great post. I will definitely use these ideas when I do my charity work.

These are amazing ideas. I never even thought of half of these! I love the idea of a bake sale for charity because I LOVE baking. I will definitely be using this as a reference when I do my charity work!!

This is a great idea. In my country we have one group where all year long the kids in the foster care you can buy for them birthday gifts according to their wishes and also program for the homeless people they sell a magazines. I love helping when I have time.

Great list and pictures as well. What a great thing to do – charity for chronic diseases. I was diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis in 2005. Living with a chronic illness has been the most challenging thing I have to face in my entire life. Thanks for your post. Check out my blog if you get a chance. My readers would love to hear about your ideas.

Hello Mazoli thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment . I also suffer from interstitial cystitis I got diagnosed last year. I will certainly check out your blog later and feel free to share the post. Next year I am releasing a post on ideas for your next chronic illness blog posts which may be of interest and I actually realised my personal story about IC you can see it here if it’s of interest . https://brainsandbodiesblog.com/2018/01/03/the-agonising-truth-exposed-chronic-bladder-syndrome/ xx

Thank you for the link. Interstitial Cystitis (IC) is such a devastating disease. I keep hoping for remission or a cure one day. It is important for people like you and me to write and tell people about IC. The more attention this disease gets the better it will be for people afflicted with it. I keep reading about medical studies relating to IC. I am staying positive and hope that 2019 is a great year for all IC sufferers!

Thank you ! I agree I can’t wait to check out your posts but need a rest first . I will be posting more on IC next year like my experience with bladder instillations and I wrote a poem about IC to. Have you tried an elimination diet ? My IC is actually caused my mast cell activation disorder so an elimination diet doesn’t do much but mast cell stabilisers help a bit … I heard that overactive mast cells are common with people with IC but unfortunately no cure . 😦 I hope it is for you too 💜